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# Richenda Spinosa

#### by Mark D F Shirley

The copyright of this article remains with the original author. Articles may be copied or distributed freely for personal non-profit use, provided that the author is properly credited.

#### Richenda Spinosa of Flambeau

### Background

Richenda was somewhat of a prodigy when she was a child. She was born to a female soldier at a Polish covenant, and Flambeau from all over the tribunal came to watch the child at play. She would giggle as she watched the flames, and would reach into a fire and withdraw a handful to play with. Many prophesied that she would grow to be a powerful Fire mage, and several Wizard's Wars were fought over who would have the right to train her when she was old enough. Eventually the Primus Flambonis declared that the right to train her as the prize in a mighty contest of skill. Eventually, the magus Louis de Brabert of the Covenant of Blackthorne won, and at the age of seven she began her apprenticeship.

Things went downhill from there. Richenda proved intractable to learning the Art of Ignem. Despite her instinctual powers with fire, she could not conjure even the simplest candle flame. Her childhood abilities dwindled as she learnt Hermetic magic, and soon the pleasure that she derived from flames left her as well. Louis nearly gave up in disgust, but felt that this would cause him a great loss of face, as he would be accused of ruining a prodigy. Instead, he tried to give her a firm grounding in all of the arts that he thought were important. Richenda developed a theoretical knowledge of fire magics, but to Louis's disgust, it was Herbam that she proved to be most proficient in. Richenda studied long and hard, spending every spare moment she could trying to overcome her mental block with fire magic, but to no avail. She proved to be a superlative apprentice, being bright and proficient in other arts, but Louis didn't give her the attention she merited.

#### Appearance

Richenda is a dark-haired woman with a permanent look of disdain on her face. Recently, her face and manner have softened somewhat, but she has a long way to go. Though she has a reputation as being a failure in her House, they respect her tenacity, and step back when her fury hits. She has managed to put her affinity with plants to inventive use. Her epithet of "Spiny" is very appropriate - she can be as prickly as a thornbush, or display hidden venom. She has a dark, Polish beauty that some men find alluring. She customarily dresses in sultry reds and greens, preferring velvet and fur over wool and linen.

Name: Richenda Spinosa

Parens: Louis de Brabert

House: Flambeau

Age: 26 (apparent 26)

Size: 0

### Characteristics:

Int | +3 | crafty | Str | 0 |  | Prs | +1 | enchanting | Dex | +1 | graceful
Per | 0 |  | Sta | 0 |  | Com | -1 | sarcastic | Qik | +1 | reflexes

### Virtues

Herbam Affinity +3
Strong Willed +1
Tough +1
Extra Arts +2
Extra Spells +1

### Flaws

Major Magical Deficiency (Ignem) -3
Fury (ability doubted) -3
Tormenting Master -1
Faerie Emnity -1

### Personality Traits

Secretive +2
Proud +1
Brave +1

#### Reputations

none

#### Confidence

3

### Abilities

Speak Latin (curses) 5
Speak Polish (insults) 4
Scribe Latin (in haste) 2
Magic Theory (invention) 5
Order of Hermes Lore (Flambeau) 1
Parma Magica (Ignem) 3
Certámen (Creo) 2
Finesse (Herbam) 3
Penetration (Herbam) 2
Herbam Affinity (thorns) 4
Faerie Lore (sylvan fae) 2
Intimidation (threats) 2
Brawl (knife) 2
Blackthorne Lore (Magi) 3

### Hermetic Arts

Creo | 10 | Animal | 0 | Ignem | 3
Intellego | 2 | Aquam | 0 | Imaginem | 0
Muto | 4 | Auram | 2 | Mentem | 0
Perdo | 2 | Corpus | 2 | Terram | 2
Rego | 8 | Herbam | 8 | Vim | 4

#### Wizard's Sigil

Thorns manifest in all her spells

### Grimoire

Wall of Thorns (CrHe20) +23
Trap of the Entwining Vine (CrHe10) +22
Piercing Shaft of Wood (MuHe25) +16
Coils of the Entangling Plants (ReHe20) +20
Palm of Flame (CrIg5) +7
The Treacherous Spear (ReHe25) +20
Transformation of the Thorny Staff (MuHe5) +17
Probe Nature's Hidden Lore (InHe4) +14

### Own Spells

Thamaturgical Transformation of Iron to Wood (MuTe/He15) +10. Identical to Thamaturgical Transformation of Plants to Iron except that it works the other way. Richenda created this spell after she discovered her faerie heritage.

The Envenomed Thorn (Cr/PeHe15) +14; R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind. This spell causes any wooden object touched to exude a layer of a vegetable poison. The poison is harmless unless it gets into the bloodstream, so is best applied to a sharp object. It will inflict a body level of damage in addition to any damage caused by the object, unless a Stamina roll of 9+ is made

Vengeance of the Rose (CrHe15) +23; R: Near, D: Spec, T: Spec. This spell causes branches of brambles to spring from the soil, like Trap of the Entwining Vines, except that the vines thrash about instead of entrapping the subject. They attack all that they can reach (each is six foot long, and they sprout from a circle 2 paces in diameter) with a weapon skill equal to the caster's Dexterity + Finesse +6, inflicting +5 damage.